BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1730|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1730
Author: Emmerson (R)
Amended: 3/17/10 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/15/10
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Hancock, Leno, Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/5/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Personal rights: monetary liability
SOURCE : California Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists
DIGEST : This bill clarifies that the peer review
liability exemption applies to review of psychotherapy
services and marriage and family therapists.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires specified licensing
entities to maintain a central file on the disciplinary
history of their respective licensees. (Bus. & Prof. Code
Sec. 800 et seq.)
Existing law defines "peer review body" to include, among
other things, a marriage and family therapy professional
society that: (1) has as members at least 25 percent of the
eligible licentiates in the area in which it functions; (2)
is not organized for profit; and (3) has been determined to
be tax-exempt pursuant to Section 23701 of the Revenue and
CONTINUED
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Taxation Code. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 805(a)(1)(C).)
Existing law provides, generally, that there shall be no
monetary liability on the part of, and no cause of action
for damages against, any member of a mental health
professional quality assurance committee for actions taken
pursuant to a review or evaluation of mental health care or
treatment. (Civ. Code Sec. 43.7(a).)
Existing law provides, generally, that there shall be no
monetary liability on the part of, and no cause of action
for damages against, a professional or medical society, or
member of any committee thereof, for any action taken to
maintain the professional standards of the society. (Civ.
Code Sec. 43.7(b).)
Existing law defines "professional society" to include
legal, medical, psychological, dental, dental hygiene,
dietetic, accounting, optometric, acupuncture, podiatric,
pharmaceutic, chiropractic, physical therapist,
veterinary, licensed marriage and family therapy, licensed
clinical social work, and engineering organizations having
as members at least 25 percent of the eligible persons or
licentiates in the geographic area served by the
particular society. (Civ. Code Sec. 43.7(b).)
Existing law requires the Board of Behavioral Sciences to
create and maintain a central file of the names of all
persons who hold a license from the Board in order to
provide a record for each licensee with respect to any:
(1) criminal conviction that constitutes unprofessional
conduct; (2) judgment or settlement for damages in excess
of $3,000 for any claim that injury or death was
proximately caused by the licensee's negligence, error or
omission in practice, or by rendering unauthorized
professional services; (3) public complaints; or (4)
disciplinary information reported pursuant to Business and
Professions Code Section 805. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec.
800.)
Existing law requires the administrator of a peer review
body to file an "805 report" with the relevant state
licensing agency within 15 days after the effective date of
any of the following that occur as a result of an action of
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the peer review body:
1.A licentiate's application for staff privileges or
membership is denied or rejected for a medical
disciplinary cause or reason.
2.A licentiate's membership, staff privileges, or
employment is terminated or revoked for a medical
disciplinary cause or reason.
3.Restrictions are imposed, or voluntarily accepted, on
staff privileges, membership, or employment for a
cumulative total of 30 days or more for any 12-month
period, for a medical disciplinary cause or reason.
(Bus. & Prof. Code Sec. 805(b).)
Existing law contains findings of the Legislature stating
that:
1.Peer review, fairly conducted, is essential to preserving
the highest standards of medical practice.
2.Peer review, fairly conducted, will aid the appropriate
state licensing boards in their responsibility to
regulate and discipline errant healing arts
practitioners.
3.To protect the health and welfare of the people of
California, it is the policy of the State of California
to exclude, through the peer review mechanism as provided
for by California law, those healing arts practitioners
who provide substandard care or who engage in
professional misconduct, regardless of the effect of that
exclusion on competition. (Bus. & Prof. Code Sec.
809(a).)
This bill clarifies that the peer review liability
exemption contained in Civil Code Section 43.7 includes
psychotherapy services.
This bill clarifies an ambiguity regarding the existing
reference to the liability exemption for licensed marriage
and family therapy contained in the definition of
"professional society" by adding marriage and family
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therapists to the list of peer review groups that comprise
the professional society.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/16/10)
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
(source)
California Hospital Association
Civil Justice Association of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office:
AB 1730 adds marriage and family therapists to the
list of health-related professionals that receive
qualified immunity for their peer review activities as
outlined in Civil Code Section. 43.7.
While licensed marriage and family therapists are
included in the law's definition of "professional
society," they are not mentioned in other relevant
parts of the statute. It should also be noted that
Business and Professions Code Section 805 includes a
marriage and family therapist professional society as
a "peer review body" for the purpose of reporting
disciplinary actions to the Board of Behavioral
Sciences. AB 1730 will correct this oversight in
current law by specifically including marriage and
family therapists in Civil Code Section 43.7 thereby
ensuring that they are clearly protected from
liability for their peer review activities.
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
states:
With regard to professional society peer review
committees that are addressed in 43.7(b) of the Civil
Code, marriage and family therapists are omitted from
the listing of professions afforded immunity from
liability, even though this section of law covers
marriage and family therapy professional societies.
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It is important for members of marriage and family
therapist ethics committees to be assured that the
specified immunity from liability is applicable to
them and the actions they take. This change in law
will assure that there is no ambiguity with respect to
this protection for those who volunteer to perform
this important function that helps to protect the
public and assure that members adhere to established
codes of ethics.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De
La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma,
Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John
A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Norby, Portantino
RJG:nl 6/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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